Resistance Training
By Venus Laney
How strong is your desire to grow in God? A recent decision in
my own personal life has prompted me to ponder this thought of
"strengthening our faith". A friend reminded me of the
importance of exercising our faith to achieve growth. The
correlations between these topics of physical exercise and
spiritual growth are awesome.
That term resistance just kept coming to me. And so, being the
inquisitive person that I am, I went to one of my favorite
online sources, Wikipedia, and looked it up. This is great
Resistance training is a form of strength training in which each
effort is performed against a specific opposing force generated
by resistance (i.e. resistance to being pushed, squeezed,
stretched or bent). Properly performed, resistance training can
provide significant functional benefits and improvement in
overall health and well-being.
The goal of resistance training, according to the American
Sports Medicine Institute (ASMI), is to "gradually and
progressively overload the musculoskeletal system so it gets
stronger."[1]
Is your Spirit man encouraged yet? If not, read the following
verses and ponder for a moment
"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various
trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces
patience" James 1:2-3
People who are serious about strength training will pay high
dollar for an experienced trainer. This person's job is to
examine your physical body to determine specific points of
weakness to work on. Their job is also to develop a routine of
exercises that will develop these areas to an optimal level
without pushing you over the edge or harming you in some way.
Now, think of it this way the Holy Spirit is our personal
trainer!!! He knows the areas in which we are in need of
strengthening. He also knows exactly how much we can take. He
knows our limits better than we do. Many times, we can go much
further than we think we can. God understands that and will push
us to "feel the burn" many times. Another interesting analogy is
that a true workout is only productive after we begin to feel
that burn. Everything else is used just to get the muscles
warmed up and ready.
Note the part of the explanation where it says "specific
opposing force". God knows specifically which areas we are in
need of strengthening. Each trial has been approved with that
very need in mind. But remember also that He has promised not to
put more on us than we can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13).
My favorite new movie is "Facing the Giants"[2]. One of the best
scenes in it is referred to as "the death crawl scene". For
those of you who have not seen the movie yet, the Giants high
school football team coach is trying to teach the players that
they are capable of more than their thoughts will allow. To
illustrate this point, he blindfolds one of the players and gets
him to carry another teammate across the entire football field
on his back. In the young man's mind, he thought he would only
be able to make it a short distance. But, at the coach's urging,
he proceeded to far surpass that limit.
We can seriously underestimate our own limitations and more
importantly, God's abilities through us. The greatest line in
that movie for me is where the coach tells the players to "leave
it all on the field". I joke with my son in saying that now, but
what an awesome statement. Why not live our lives with that in
mind? What are we conserving all of our energy and gifts for
anyway? We sure can't take them with us. We have been given a
limited time on Earth for a reason. Let's dig in and press on
with all we've got! Let's leave it all on the field!!!
Venus Laney is an inspirational writer, songwriter and
singer. Whether through songs of praise or written word, her
personal reflection and use of God's word is meant to glorify
the King and draw the listener/reader closer to Him.
http://www.venuslaney.com
